Unpacking the Wellness Industry's Whitewashing Problem

Often, I find myself mid-lunge in a Pilates class or stretching in a yoga studio, to notice that I am the only Asian person in the room. 99.9% of the time, the class is filled with white women, rarely men, and is taught by white women.* Disappointingly, I’m never surprised by this. For far too long, whiteness has become synonymous with wellness.

The lack of representation and diversity within the wellness industry is blatant. The whitewashing of yoga is rampant (a friend recently pointed out to me that saying ‘Namaste’ at the end of a yoga practice is technically redundant as it means ‘Hello’), and big brands like Goop tout wellness that is exclusively white and privileged. This is harmful. It feeds into the perception of inaccessibility, and the idea that to be healthy or to engage in wellness, you have to look a certain way or spend your money in a certain manner. The fact that people of colour aren’t equally represented in the wellness space signals exclusion - that we’re not welcome. Ironically, it is Asian health practices that have had significant influences on the West, from yoga to turmeric ‘lattes’ and the proliferation of matcha.

I recently took my mum and my aunties to a Pilates class with me. It felt a bit comical walking in as a big group of ‘Asian aunties’ but honestly, I loved it. It felt good to take up space and to assert that we too belong.

*I would be remiss to not give a shout-out to Jess, our wonderful Marketing Lead, who currently teaches Pilates classes!